‘A lot of ghosts’: Wallabies aim to exorcise South African demons on Jones’ return
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Johannesburg: The Wallabies have vowed to “tackle the ghosts” of South Africa and get their season off to the best possible start by snapping a 60-year losing drought in Pretoria and put Australian rugby back on the map in a World Cup year.
When Eddie Jones’ side walk onto Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday (Sunday 1.05am AEST), it will be 1449 days since their last match on South African soil.
A by-product of COVID-19 and a new Rugby Championship format, it is the longest gap between away matches against the Springboks since the end of apartheid in the 1990s. Australia did not travel to South Africa between 1969 and 1992.
The Wallabies haven’t won a Test there since 2011 and from seven previous matches in Pretoria, have never come away with a win.
Overall, since 1933, Australia’s winning record in South Africa is just 21.3 per cent.
Only nine of Australia’s 23 players selected for this weekend’s opening Rugby Championship fixture have featured in a Test in South Africa.
Wallabies co-captain Michael Hooper.Credit: Getty
Rather than shy away from the underwhelming record, the Wallabies have actively discussed it.
“There’s a lot of ghosts of Wallabies teams out there and we’ve tried to tackle that and take on the concept of playing at altitude,” Jones said. “It will be a fierce crowd. Pretoria is probably the loudest crowd you experience in the world. We’re looking forward to seeing what we can do.”
Altitude and Australia haven’t been the best of friends over the years, with the Wallabies tasting victory on just two occasions — at Ellis Park in 1963 and Bloemfontein in 2010 — on the highveld.
“[We have to] Embrace the challenge we’ve got,” said co-captain Michael Hooper. “What an opportunity to be the first Wallabies team to win here in Pretoria. It’s a great opportunity to start off our campaign here.
Will Genia in action for the Wallabies during their last visit to Pretoria in 2016. Credit: Gallo Images
“The excitement is building nicely in our camp. That’s largely been what the talk’s been about and how we can best seize that.”
There have been plenty of excellent Wallabies teams that have stumbled in South Africa.
During Jones’ first tenure as Wallabies coach, from 2001 to 2005, the Wallabies failed to manage a win in the Rainbow nation from five attempts.
Although the Springboks have effectively named a second-string side — to rest players for a Test next week in New Zealand — they have impressive depth and will look to muscle inexperienced Wallabies players out of the game.
Australia have picked four debutants: Tom Hooper (No.6), Zane Nonggorr (reserve prop), Richie Arnold (reserve second-rower) and Carter Gordon (reserve five-eighth).
The last time Australia fielded four debutants was against New Zealand in 2020 in Sydney.
Following the Wallabies’ disappointing return of five wins from 14 Tests last year, Dave Rennie was sacked as coach.
In the same press release from Rugby Australia, Jones was installed to lead the Wallabies on a five-year deal.
This first assignment is vitally important to Jones but it is just a stepping stone to the World Cup, which starts in early September.
“I’m just building on the great work Dave Rennie did,” Jones said. “Any good team has experience at the top but then they have an infusion of enthusiasm from the younger guys. We’re trying to get that right mix in the team.
“Have we got it for Saturday? Yeah, we think we do. We know the Springboks are going to come out hard and we’re going to meet that challenge.
“We’ve got a fantastic group of players that are working really hard. They want to put Australian rugby back on the map. It’s going to start on Saturday.”
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